As government grows, so does corruption

At the height of the summer corruption scandals involving Reps. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) and Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), I
wrote that corruption is picking winners and losers.

A progressive government as large and intrusive as ours functions by taking
from some in order to give to others. A perfect example is the “Cash for
Clunkers” program, through which Congress took $4 billion from taxpayers
(losers) to boost the failing auto industry and individuals in the market for a
new car at the time (winners).

Now The
New York Times reports
that the Obama administration is, yet again, picking winners and losers. This
time the White House has issued waivers for a select number of health insurance
companies and businesses to exempt them from mandates and regulations
established in the new healthcare law.

I’m glad to see pushback by these companies — many of which claim the
regulations may force them to drop out of parts of the insurance market, or
drop existing health insurance coverage for employees. But it’s interesting
that the administration is now the grantor of magnanimous dispensations to the
few favored businesses, while other companies struggle with a bad economy and
burdensome new healthcare regulations.

At the individual level, we identify selective favors like this as corruption,
but we often don’t even blink an eye when it takes place at the government
level. Yet both instances are unethical and deserve scrutiny.

This decision by the White House to carve out exemptions for certain companies
comes as no surprise. (It’s exactly what the Disclose Act proposed to do for campaign finance reform.) But when
government gets into the business — of, say, healthcare — they are forced to
choose sides.

If we want to bring an end to the corruption that plagues Washington, we need
to bring an end to policies like ObamaCare. Smaller government won’t stamp out
all corruption. But when government is not in the business of healthcare,
agriculture, auto manufacturing and more, it creates fewer opportunities for
dishonesty and mitigates the effects of bad behavior.

The relationship between citizen and state today is a mirror image of what was
intended at our founding. And our lives and our fortunes are increasingly
dependent on the whims of our elected officials. It’s time we turn back toward a system where our government
is of the people once again.